NEO E-vita-NEO era!

In this review article, the history of the first commercially available thoracic aortic hybrid graft, the E-vita Open, later modified to the blood-impermeable E-vita Open Plus, is reported from its beginning in 2005 until its newest variation, the E-vita Open NEO, European conformity (CE) marked in 2020. Besides the background of its design and clinical experience in Essen, concomitant evolutionary steps in surgery as well as in strategic approaches like the hybrid operating room concept are displayed, finally leading to a well-rounded surgical package with a device that can be applied in all elective as well as emergency situations with complex arch involving aortic pathologies. With the E-vita Open NEO, now, surgery has been facilitated to convenient anastomosing in any of the arch zones, with the opportunity to use the island technique with a straight graft variation as well as individual head vessel anastomosing with either a trifurcated graft for zone 0 or the branched graft for zone 2 or 3 implantation. With its proven long-term stability, the surgical armamentarium to cope with complex multisegmental thoracic aortic pathologies has been significantly improved.